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    Shark bites new viewers for Discovery; Nielsen week in review

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    Shark Week on Discovery

    By David Bauder, Media Writer

    NEW YORK (AP) --

    Shark Week just finished its 33rd edition on Discovery, a television event so old that one advertising executive joked it could have its own children.

    But some recent research illustrated its potency in bringing new viewers to the network, something increasingly important in an era where television networks and streaming services are competing furiously for eyeballs.

    A study by LG Ads found that during Shark Week last year, 37% of the people who tuned in hadn't watched Discovery at any point during the previous month. That phenomenon was more pronounced for National Geographic Explorer's Shark Fest, where 51% of viewers hadn't seen the network the month before.

    For both networks, more than one-third of those new viewers came back for other programming within the next month.

    "In a world where cable just doesn't come on automatically when you turn on your TV, that just is incredibly important," said Justin Fromm, an executive at LG Ads.

    It's the definition of event programming, which networks use to advertise their wares — as the NBC Universal networks will do starting this Friday with the Olympics.

    National Geographic Explorer has actually spread Shark Fest over six weeks, beginning earlier this month. The programming has also been made available over the Disney+ streaming service.

    Discovery programs averaged 687,000 viewers in primetime last week, oddly lower than the previous week, although there was competition from the NBA Finals and baseball's All-Star Game. The first night of Shark Week, July 11, is the most popular and was counted in last week's Nielsen company figures. Viewing increased among viewers aged 18-to-49, an indication that the network's audience composition was different than typical weeks.

    Benefiting from their sports events, ABC averaged 4.1 million viewers in primetime last week, and Fox had 2.9 million. NBC had 2.6 million, CBS had 2.4 million, Univision had 1.6 million, Ion Television had 1.1 million and Telemundo had 1 million.

    Fox News Channel led the cable networks, averaging 2.13 million viewers in primetime. ESPN had 1.35 million, MSNBC had 1.28 million, HGTV had 1.23 million and Hallmark had 1.01 million.

    ABC's "World News Tonight" led the evening news ratings race, averaging 7.6 million viewers. NBC's "Nightly News" had 6.1 million viewers and the "CBS Evening News" had 4.7 million.

    For the week of July 12-18, the 20 most-watched programs, their networks and viewerships:

    1. NBA Finals: Phoenix at Milwaukee, Game 4, ABC, 10.26 million.
    2. NBA Finals: Milwaukee at Phoenix, Game 5, ABC, 9.62 million.
    3. Baseball: All-Star Game, Fox, 9.62 million.
    4. "America's Got Talent," NBC, 7.1 million.
    5. "Home Run Derby," ESPN, 6.29 million.
    6. "60 Minutes," CBS, 5.96 million.
    7. "Celebrity Family Feud," ABC, 4.84 million.
    8. "America's Funniest Home Videos," ABC, 3.95 million.
    9. "NCIS," CBS, 3.925 million.
    10. "Home Run Derby Prelude," ESPN, 3.925.
    11. "The Chase," ABC, 3.83 million.
    12. "Big Brother" (Thursday), CBS, 3.81 million.
    13. "The Bachelorette," ABC, 3.71 million.
    14. Soccer: Mexico vs. El Salvador, Univision, 3.64 million.
    15. "Big Brother" (Wednesday), CBS, 3.63 million.
    16. "NBA Countdown" (Wednesday), ABC, 3.5 million.
    17. "Big Brother" (Sunday), CBS, 3.49 million.
    18. "The Neighborhood," CBS, 3.36 million.
    19. "American Ninja Warrior," NBC, 3.32 million.
    20. "To Tell the Truth," ABC, 3.26 million.

    Tags:DiscoveryLG AdsNielsenShark Week



    Ex-OpenAI engineer who raised legal concerns about the technology he helped build has died

    Saturday, December 21, 2024
    Suchir Balaji poses for a photo in Hawaii in 2018. Balaji was a former OpenAI engineer and whistleblower who died in November 2024. (Balaji Ramamurthy via AP)

    Suchir Balaji, a former OpenAI engineer and whistleblower who helped train the artificial intelligence systems behind ChatGPT and later said he believed those practices violated copyright law, has died, according to his parents and San Francisco officials. He was 26.

    Balaji worked at OpenAI for nearly four years before quitting in August. He was well-regarded by colleagues at the San Francisco company, where a co-founder this week called him one of OpenAI's strongest contributors who was essential to developing some of its products.

    "We are devastated to learn of this incredibly sad news and our hearts go out to Suchir's loved ones during this difficult time," said a statement from OpenAI.

    Balaji was found dead in his San Francisco apartment on Nov. 26 in what police said "appeared to be a suicide. No evidence of foul play was found during the initial investigation." The city's chief medical examiner's office confirmed the manner of death to be suicide.

    His parents Poornima Ramarao and Balaji Ramamurthy said they are still seeking answers, describing their son as a "happy, smart and brave young man" who loved to hike and recently returned from a trip with friends.

    Balaji grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area and first arrived at the fledgling AI research lab for a 2018 summer internship while studying computer science at the University of California, Berkeley. He returned a few years later to work at OpenAI, where one of his first projects, called WebGPT, helped pave the way for ChatGPT.

    "Suchir's contributions to this project were essential, and it wouldn't have succeeded without him," said OpenAI co-founder John Schulman in a social media post memorializing Balaji. Schulman, who recruited Balaji to his team, said what... Read More

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